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Sexual Health

Understanding Sexualities

April 23, 2019 - By Roísín McManus

To understand sexuality, we must first begin by accepting that everyone’s is different. Then, we can learn about what sexuality means to us. In a world that is now more open and understanding than ever before, we must continue to learn about sexuality and what it means to different people to become a more inclusive society. B4udecide.ie defines sexuality as “much more than sexual feelings or having sex, it involves our relationship with ourselves, those around us, and the society in which we live.” Let’s briefly look at the different sexualities out there and what they mean.

I’ll start with what it means to be straight. People who consider themselves as being straight, are attracted to those of the opposite sex. It is fair to say that being straight has long been considered the norm for people. However, it is precisely in this way that the term carries negative connotations as anyone who identifies themselves as not being straight is often seen as being wrong. Through educating people on sexuality, hopefully, this is something that we can change for good.

Moving on to what it means to be gay. People who identify themselves as being gay are attracted to those of the opposite sex. However, while the term gay can be used to describe anyone who is attracted to someone of the opposite sex, it is more commonly associated with men who are attracted to men. The word lesbian is the term used to describe women who are attracted to women.

People who identify themselves as queer see themselves as not being straight, while gender queer is the term used for people who don’t assign themselves to one gender. Questioning refers to those who are questioning their sexuality.

Being bisexual means that you are attracted to both sexes. While it is more common than being either gay or lesbian, bisexual people often come under much flack as many people tend to think of them as being either greedy and or unable to make their minds up, unfortunately.

Tying in with bisexuality, the term pansexual applies to those who are attracted to others regardless of whatever sexuality they are or gender that they assign themselves to. Oftentimes, pansexual people refer to themselves as being gender blind, in that it doesn’t matter what gender or sexuality people they are attracted to are/have.

Asexual people tend not to be sexually attracted to other people and don’t have as strong an interest in having sexual relations with others as other people have.

It is through educating people about sexuality that we learn that there is no one fixed sexuality or no one way to feel. I hope that it is something we continue to do long into the future to ensure that our society continues to progress into an even more accepting world